Love my HZ Super Cub

earthsciteach

Moderator
Moderator
I've been flying my first plane a good bit, lately - my upgraded HZ Super Cub. Man, I love this plane. I entertained myself quite a bit today just taking off, flying around the pattern and spot landing it. It still hasn't gotten old. I still like it best of all my planes, I think. :)
 

Joker 53150

Mmmmmmm, balsa.
Mentor
I've got a love/hate relationship with mine right now. It's my first plane and has been taken out to fly four times now. So far I've broken the fuselage in half across the battery box and today the tail snapped off just ahead of the tail wheel bracket. The fuselage accident was due to a quick wind gust mixed with an inexperienced pilot, and today's tail break was squarely on my shoulders. Both breaks were fast/easy/ultra-cheap to fix with 30 minute epoxy. The funny thing is that both breaks happened in the very few areas not reinforced with packing tape. The fuselage would have completely broken in half if it weren't for the window sticker on the outside and tape holding the antenna on the inside. The tail break was right in the 1/2" area not covered by packing tape across the bottom of the fuselage.

Moral of the story: cover the whole dang plane in packing tape! :)

Regardless, I'm getting the crashing/fixing out of my system now, and once the plane is comprised of about 30% epoxy by volume I'll just order a new fuselage & wing!
 

Fishbonez

Active member
I have to admit my Cubs "Flirting with Disaster" and "Ole Relaible" have been colecting some dust. I want to take "Ole Relaible" off from the water but I cant find corosion x but when I do I am going to take her straight to the lake. I also gave her the motor upgrade and it performs better than FWD even though they both have the same upgrade except OR doesnt have ailerons. I dont think my Cubs will ever be officially retired it seems every now and again they look at me and say fly me I was your first. LOL
 

earthsciteach

Moderator
Moderator
Mine sat for MONTHS after a bad crash. I repaired it, but didn't bother to put it back together until about 3 weeks ago.

Joker - par for the course. I recommend Gorilla Glue for repairs instead of epoxy because it is MUCH lighter. Plus, it is easy to trim off the excess. My current fuselage has been broken sooooo many times. But, its still flying great!
 

Joker 53150

Mmmmmmm, balsa.
Mentor
Heck, after coating every edge of the plane with packing tape a little epoxy shouldn't be too bad! :p

Since I already have the epoxy I'll just keep using it - so far it's doing a great job, and it hasn't added that much weight to the plane.

I really am trying to get to the point where I can fly the SC and land (safely) regularly so I can justify getting another plane. Then the Cub goes to my son who will undoubtedly try to drill holes in the ground with it as well. Thankfully all the parts are easily available and relatively inexpensive!
 

earthsciteach

Moderator
Moderator
Can you describe the difficulties you are having? We probably can offer some advice. For instance, Are you able to describe the crashes? Is there something that seems to be occurring consistently?

If you are using the "Anti-crash Technology," I recommend turning it off. Beyond that, I recommend unplugging it totally. Its nothing but trouble!
 

Joker 53150

Mmmmmmm, balsa.
Mentor
Can you describe the difficulties you are having? We probably can offer some advice. For instance, Are you able to describe the crashes? Is there something that seems to be occurring consistently?

If you are using the "Anti-crash Technology," I recommend turning it off. Beyond that, I recommend unplugging it totally. Its nothing but trouble!

Well, I guess the biggest problem I'm having so far is that the ground tends to be too close to the SC at certain times. :p

Actually, I think the second crash that took off the tail was just rough ground and a less than level approach by a new pilot. The right wing dipped, snagged the ground, and the plane did a little gymnastic routine. It wasn't a violent crash, but the tail was probably weakened from the previous crash.

I'd probably be in better shape if I could remember what Josh B keeps talking about - being 1 or 2 mistakes high. It's obviously a good idea, but I love watching the Cub float by at scale speed 10' or so off the deck, and that's somewhat unwise for me at this time.

I turned the Always-Crash-Technology off after the first flight, and it hasn't been on since.
 

jetpackninja

More combat please...
Mentor
Thanks Jetpack now the question is which one do I purchase? So many choices just unsure which one is the right choice recomendations?

I haven't bought any because I haven't done the floats yet. But I think this one is the flavor I would go for.
http://www.amazon.com/CorrosionX-Lu...F8&qid=1345747354&sr=8-1&keywords=corrosion+x

My other passion is motorcycles. We don't see it much here in the states but in Europe they use similar chemicals and offer a service to fog your motorcycles with anti corrosives, not sure why it isn't more commonly done here...
 

Ak Flyer

Fly the wings off
Mentor
They have all of those types of things here and everywhere it's just not as publicized. We use a brand called Cortec where I work. They do lots of corrosion protection for the US military. They shrink wrap entire aircraft with their corrosion protection stuff in it. My favorite stuff is called corrosion block. It works really well. It's a good as corrosion X but it sprays as a foam and stays longer. We use all types at work.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...gclid=CJGfhdnm_rECFcV7Qgodcy8AoA#.UDavRNZlTa4

http://www.cortecvci.com/index2.php
 

earthsciteach

Moderator
Moderator
Joker - Altitude is your friend! Don't let the Cub get too slow on approach. Here's a good thing to keep in mind: When landing, control altitude with throttle and airspeed with elevator. If you are landing short of your intended target, give it some throttle. Pulling up will result in a stall. If you are coming in too hot (fast), pull up and let some airspeed bleed off.

Other than that, just stop hitting the Earth! ;)
 

Joker 53150

Mmmmmmm, balsa.
Mentor
Strange thing... I'm killing time today because it's too windy to crash. Um, "fly". Playing around with the SC I noticed that the elevator was "clicking" when I attempted to give it "up elevator", and that it wasn't moving the control surface. Down worked, but up was a couple little clicks and nothing else. I remember it doing that once or twice since the first crash, but didn't know what it was and couldn't duplicate the problem.

Upon further investigation, I noticed that the elevator was creased slightly from one of the previously unscheduled landings. This crease was enough to close the tiny gap that's supposed to be between the control surface and the non-moving part of the elevator (at the side of the elevator, not at the hinge). The clicking was the sound of the elevator getting hung up on itself. It didn't happen all the time, possibly due to changes in temp as the gap would expand/contract. Now I'm wondering if that contributed to the tail-snapping crash - I remember not being able to pull it out of the nose dive - it seemed very sluggish in response. After putting the tail back on it happened constantly and I was able to finally find the problem.

To help remedy the situation I simply took an Xacto knife and opened up the gap a bit. No more clicking, and the control surface moves freely again. Moral of the story: strange noises are not your friend, be it in RC models or after having Mexican for dinner. Also, on pre-flight watch and listen as the control surfaces move.

I can't say for sure that this is what led to the crash or not, but it would make sense on what happened, what I saw, and what I found afterward.
 

earthsciteach

Moderator
Moderator
Yeesh! That worries me. You should check to make sure that the servo gear isn't stripped. It could just be the servo straining against the resistance, though. Does it move freely and easily, now?

The HZ SC is very responsive to elevator, even at low speeds. Maybe you did discover your gremlin!
 

Joker 53150

Mmmmmmm, balsa.
Mentor
Yeah, I'm pretty certain the issue is gone now. The elevator moves freely, there is no clicking, and the side gap on the elevator is opened enough to keep it from binding. The servos have no funky sound and everything moves smoothly.

I'll know for sure if the wind calms down this weekend!
 

Fishbonez

Active member
Yeesh! That worries me. You should check to make sure that the servo gear isn't stripped. It could just be the servo straining against the resistance, though. Does it move freely and easily, now?

The HZ SC is very responsive to elevator, even at low speeds. Maybe you did discover your gremlin!

+1 here
Joker before you fly double, triple quadruple check numerouse times on this servo. I had the same clicking noise in my F4U aileron servo and it eventually became stuck talk about a tricky landing when the plane wants to do nothing but circle right. It may behoove you to replace the servo and take the servo completly out of the equation. Kinda piece of mind thing.
 
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Joker 53150

Mmmmmmm, balsa.
Mentor
Already done, but will be done again before it flies again. I've played around with it a number of times since re-installing the tail to make sure the pushrods didn't get any epoxy on them, checked control surfaces, servo travel, etc. Everything looks/sounds fine now. But I'll run know for sure if the winds die down today.
 

Joker 53150

Mmmmmmm, balsa.
Mentor
I was 98% ready to order either the Bixler or Floater, but decided to go spend the cash locally instead, which is why I have the SC. Immediate gratification instead of waiting for a shipment from Hong Kong...

I plan to get a Bixler next, as it would be a great platform for my GoPro 2. I always wondered what a pilot would see during a crash! :rolleyes:
 

earthsciteach

Moderator
Moderator
You chose very well! The HZ SC was my first RC plane and it is still by favorite (upgraded to brushless and ailerons, bomb drop capability, etc). I even have an electronic contact wired up to ignite bottle rockets mounted to the plane. I just need the rocket motor ignitors! I've also mounted my GoPro under the Cub, just forward of the landing gear. It handles it beautifully! She is a real work horse.